Cattle-stanchion.



F. W. PRUESS.

GAT TIE STANGHION. APPLICATION FILED DBO. z, 1910.

Patented Apr. 16, 1912.

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F. W. .PRUESS.

CATTLE STANGHION.

APPLICATION FILED DEQ. 2', 1910.

Patented Apr. 16, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET z.

' locked position.

FREDERICK W. PRUESS, OF VVHITELAW, WISCONSJ IN.

CATTLE-STANCI-IION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 16, 1912.

Application filed December 2, 1910. Serial No. 595,266.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK W. PRUESS, a citizen of the United States, residing at ll hitelaw, in the county of Manitowoc and State of lVisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cattle- Stanchions, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in cattle stanchions, and consists in the con struction, combination and arrangement of devices hereinafter described and claimed.

One object of my invention is to provide a swinging cattle stanchion with means to lock the same against movement when the stanchion is not in use, and to support the same in the position required to enable the animal to put its head between the bars of the stanchion. I

A further object of my invention is to effect improvements in the means for locking the movable bar.

In the accompanying drawings-Figure 1 is an elevation of a cattle stanchion constructed in accordance with my invention, with parts broken away to disclose the interior construction, and showing the stanchion with its movable bar in locked positlon. Fig. 2 is a similar view of the same, partly in section, showing the movable bar in un- Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view of the same on the plane indicated by the line 33 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view of the same on the plane indicated by the line 44 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a detail vertical transverse sectional view on the plane indicated by the line 5-5 of Fig. 1, andFig. 6 is a detail perspective view of the latch.

In accordance with my invention I provide a base bar 1 which may be secured to the floor of, or to a sill at the inner end of a stall, in a position transverse of the stall, and parallel with a feed trough. This base bar is here shown as having a vertical offset portion 2, and the same is provided near one end thereof with a transverse vertical flange 3 which has a notch 4 in its upper side, and is also provided with an inclined curved upper cam surface 5 which extends from one side of the said notch to one end of the said flange.

The relatively fixed bar 6 of the stanchion is secured at its upper end between the ends of the arms of a U-shaped upper bar 7,

which is preferably made of plate metal. A pin or bolt 8 connects the arms of the bar 7 at a central point and to the said pin or bolt is secured the upper end of a brace 9, the lower end of which is secured to the inner side of the bar 6 near the upper end of said bar by means of a bolt 10. The lower end of the bar 6 is secured in a socket 11 at one end of a hollow bar 12 by means of a bolt 18, and also by means of a bolt 14, which bolt 14 engages a brace arm 15 that extends upwardly from said hollow bar. The lower central portion 16 of the hollow bar is pivotally mounted by a bolt 17 on the vertical off-set portion 2 of the base 1, a washer plate 18 being here shown between the said bar and the said base. Hence the stanchion is pivotally connected to the base so that the stanchion can be swung in a horizontal plane. The eye of an eye-bolt 19 is engaged by the pin 8 and to the upper end of the said eye-bolt is swiveled a link 20 which may be suspended by any suitable means from a. suitable support, the said eyebolt and link serving to pivotally support the upper end of the stanchion.

The sides of the hollow bar 12 are 0011- nected together, near the end opposite that to which the lower end of the stanchion 6 is attached, by a cross plate 21, so that a recess 22, open at one end, is formed in one end of the said hollow bar. A guide yoke 23 which is U-shaped extends outwardly from the recessed end of the hollow bar and has its arms secured to the sides of the said hollow bar by means of a bolt or pin 24. The upper end of the movable stanchion bar 25 is pivoted between the sides of the U-shaped bar 7 by means of a bolt 26, and the lower portion of the said movable bar is adapted to swing in the guide yoke 23 and to enter or be moved outwardly from the recess 22. The lower end of the movable bar 25 is rounded on its inner side to form a cam surface 27, the said lower end of the said bar extending below the guide yoke 23 and the lower side of the recessed portion of the hollow bar 12 to which the said guide yoke is attached. In the hollow bar, is a catch 28 which is pivoted at 29, and one end of which is normally depressed by a spring 30 so that when the stanchion is in line with the base 1, the said catch is forced by the spring into engagement with the notch 4 of the cam flange 3, so as to lock the stanchion parallel with the said base and transversely with respect to the stall at the head of which the stanchion is located. "When the movable bar 25 is moved toward the fixed bar 6, and enters the recess 22 of the hollow bar 12, the cam surface 26 of said movablebar' engages a cam arm 31 with which the catch 28 is provided and serves to depress that end of the catch provided with the cam arm, and to raise the other end of the catch and hence disengage the same from the notch of the locking flange 3, and thus permit the stanchion to swing.

In order to lock the movable bar in posit-ion parallel with the bar 6, that is to say in engaged position, with respect to the animal, whose neck is between the bars 6, 25, I provide a latch 32 which is substantially U-shaped and the arms of which are pivotally connected as at 33 to opposite sides of the hollow bar 12. One of the arms of the latch is provided with a foot piece 34 which may be readily depressed so as to move the outer, closed end of the latch upwardly and cause the same to engage the lower end of the movable bar 25, and hence lock the latter in closed position.

It will be observed that owing to the provision of the cam face 27 at the lower end of the movable bar 25 the cam arm 31 of the latch 28 and which engages the same cam face 27, by the action of the spring 80 exerts outward tension on the said movable bar, which tension is constant when the movable bar is in locked position, and hence the said movable bar frictionally engages the outer end of the latch 32 and the latter is thereby held in locking position. Hence, the spring 80 not only co-acts with the cam arm of the catch 28 and the cam face 27 of the movable bar to hold the said catch disengaged from the notch when the movable bar is in closed position, but also causes said movable bar and said catch to maintain the latch in locking position engaged with the movable bar.

From the foregoing, it will be understood that when releasing the animal, the instant that the bar 25 is disengaged by the latch 32, the stanchion having been first adjusted so that its catch 28 is above the notch of the flange of the base 1, the said catch by the action of its spring 30 is caused to engage the said notch so as to lock the stanchion in a position transverse of the stall and parallel with the trough, so that when the animal which enters the stall, in its eifort to eat from the trough, will put its head between the bars 6, 25. Vhen the bar 25 is locked it serves by engagement with the cam arm 31 of the latch 28 to disengage said 'latch from the notch of the locking flange 3 of the base 1, so that the stanchion is free toswing and conform itself to the movements of the head of the animal and the animal is also enabled to lie down comfortably. Hence when the stanchion is in locked position, with respect to the animal it is unlocked with respect to the base, and is free to swing.

I claim The herein described stanchion embodying a relatively fixed bar, an upper bar secured at one end to the upper end of the fixed bar and having a pivoted support, a hollow lower bar having a socket at one end in which the lower end of the fixed bar is secured and further provided with a depending centrally located extension, and at the end opposite the fixed bar with a recess; a guide yoke projecting from the recessed end of the hollow bar and detachably secured thereto, a base bar having a vertical extension on which the depending extension of the hollow bar is pivotally mounted and being also provided with a transverse vertical notched flange; a catch pivotally mounted in the hollow bar, extending through the extension thereof, having means at one end to engage the notched flange of the base bar and provided at the opposite end with a cam arm; a movable bar pivoted at its upper end to the upper bar, the lower end of said movable bar operating in the guide yoke and being provided on its inner side with a cam and on its outer side with a second cam, a U-shaped gravitating latch pivotally mounted in the hollow bar, and a spring bearing on the catch and causing the latter, when tripped, to press its cam arm against the first mentioned cam of the movable bar and cause the second cam of the movable bar, by friction with the latch, to keep the latter in engagement with said movable bar so as to hold said movable bar in locked position.

In testimony whereof I hereunto atfixmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

FREDERICK IV. PRUESS.

Witnesses CHARLES 11. MARCH, FRANK VRANEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

